TrevorR

Yes, definitely focus on a new amp first. And don't feel shy about taking your bass along to a music shop and trying it through the amps you reckon might be in your price range - even when you have no intention of buying that day/week/month. There's nothing wrong with that. You're researching what you eventually will buy and a good music shop will know that if they're helpful then they're more likely to get your cash whenever you ARE ready to buy. And while you're there, treat yourself and try a couple of more expensive ones... Also part of the research/learning experience.

I got a Faith Neptune Titan and a Feedbackbuster plug for more acoustic based stuff. Works well and sounds pretty good through an amp or PA. not had much feedback issues at sensible volumes.

Welcome to Basschat Chris. Dive in and enjoy the fun. We're just up the river in Staines so know Walton well. Used to do the function band thing too but now mostly doing my playing in the worship band in the new church in Walton (just opposite the railway station in the old Jaguar showroom). There are a few BCers in the area so let us know when your next gig is coming up, maybe we can have an informal bass hang!!!! Oh, and bookmark Saturday 25th for the 10th Annual SE Basschat Bass Bash over in Addlestone. Going to be a great day and a good chance to say "Hi" to othe BCers in person... http://basschat.co.uk/topic/283248-south-east-bass-bash-no10-surrey-saturday-24th-september-2016/

Looks like Nick Beggs is having a belated spring clean and getting rid of a few basses... A Jaco Jazz, a MM and a Wal 5-er with midi (but not a Midi bass)... Click below for a quick lust... https://www.facebook.com/nick.beggs.9?ref=ts&fref=ts And remember, you can resist everything except temptation!

[quote name='jonsmith' timestamp='1453284979' post='2958017'] It's even worse when it's your bass that's in the advert, which happened with my Mk1 fretted a few years ago.... [/quote] My Mk 1 has turned up on eBay once or twice as well. But then again, photos of my bass aren't hard to come by...

[quote name='Nicko' timestamp='1470656947' post='3107345'] Apparently not many Sunday bands get invited back. The venue gave us some fairly strong feedback, liked the setlist, didn't like the pauses between songs (we have a few numbers where the guitards detiune - not sure what we can do about that). [/quote] Glad to hear that it went well and paid off (don't under-estimate the value of having an established venue sitting on your gig list or being on the cancellations phone list. As others have said, dead air while guitar players go "ding ding dang dang" for a couple of minutes is an atmosphere killer. The answer has to be a mixture of having a spare guitar which is in the alternate tuning (and a cable with a silent switching jack - changeover should take no more than 15-20 seconds with that set up) and considering sensible grouping of songs in alternate tuning. You see bands whose set goes (tuning wise) normal, normal, drop D, normal, drop D, normal, normal, drop D, normal, drop D... with 2 or 3 minutes of "ding ding dang dang" in between each change. For most punters that's immediate "time to go to the bar - or indeed, another bar".

Good luck this afternoon. Let us know how it goes.

Odd. When igo there the menu is there on the left and the front page string icon takes you to the relevant brand page with clear in and out of stock and number to purchase boxes...

[quote name='Painy' timestamp='1470264155' post='3104691'] Ask BC'er Dolando. I happen to know that he just got a very nice looking '75 Jazz from his family for his 30th. However it appears to be very much wanted! [/quote] Do you have his mum's email and do you know if she's interested in adopting?

A bland set list or a set list full of tunes that slightly tipsy punters love to get up and dance and sing along to...? It's a wedding/function band so I'd suggest that this is nearly the perfect set list. You'd need to throw in Mustang Sally, Brown Eyed Girl, Sweet Home Alabama and maybe some Oasis tunes to make it perfect. As in, perfectly fitted to what the band is being paid to do. It may not match my personal playlist but that's not the point. For me there was always a LOT of enjoyment to be had from playing MY version of this sort of tune with musos who played really well and were a laugh to hang around with to a room full of people having a tangibly great time. For me that is as much or even more of a buzz than the actual chord sequences/notes being played. Artistic fulfilment can always be found in other projects, and besides learning good stage projection and the ability to connect with/drive an audience as a muso and as a band is also a skill that can be developed and honed in these sorts of musical situations. And as to Wal or Enfield? I would strongly advise... BOTH!

[quote name='TommyK' timestamp='1470308515' post='3104924'] What are the necks like on a wal 4? I really fancy saving up for one but yet to try one. Are they more stingray/p than jazz? [/quote] If you can arrange a day trip up to Surrey from Dorchester in September my two and a good few more will be at the SE Bass Bash. See in the events forum. You'd be welcome to try them out (which is half the fun of a Bass Bash!). On your last q in your post. I have a real dislike of the fatter P and Stingray necks and love Jazz bass necks. The Wals have always felt more akin to the latter than the former to me. But of course, if you were ordering, personal prefs may be able to be accommodated.

My 1985 Mk 1 has the following dimensions... Fingerboard width: At nut: 42 mm 12th fret: 55 mm String width (outer edges E-G): At nut: 37 mm 12th fret: 47 mm Bridge: 56 mm As to the profile, the neck has a subtle V-shape which I find very comfortable to play. I'm not a fan of wide or chunky necks and this fits perfectly in my hand. My Pro series bass neck is quite different. I've not measured it but the width feels sort of similar. However, the profile is much more of a rounded C shape. It feels different in the hand but still very comfortable to play.

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1470295812' post='3104776'] Are you doing anything else that Sunday? If not, treat it as a rehearsal without having to pay any studio fees. Use social media to advertise as much as possible, friends and family are your draw when getting going, they will still be faces the venue's management have never seen, so a good thing. Knock together some posters for the venue to display to show you mean business. If you don't get any bookings from the gig (at that venue), well that's that and you did your best and hopefully had some fun. However, it might also pay off and there might be other people there who know other venues and will recommend you (this happened to my band). Ultimately you either want to do it or would rather do something else. Are the venue taking the pee? Yes, probably, but 'twas ever thus. If you do do it, enjoy it for what it is and don't constantly be thinking how you're being taken for a ride. [/quote] This! So very much This...! Make the gig work for you and make the very best out of it!

This thread also reminds me of the other advert fave... "Unwanted gift" Who gets £400, £500, £600 basses as birthday presents? And who is it doing the giving and, more importantly why are none of them my auntie? I'm lucky if I get a pair of socks and a CD!

[quote name='Nicko' timestamp='1470229405' post='3104274'] . We might get a few family and friends, but bearing in mind this is Sunday gig, and the venue has not advertised the band because we are a late cancellation stand in, I think this is totally out of order. Isn't getting an audience in the venue's job? [/quote] Well, if you do decide to do the gig, short notice or not, judged on attendance or not, you should currently be promoting the heck out of it. Every band member's Facebook page, Twitter account. Every Internet forum you're a part of. Because, if you can bring along some punters then it makes the likelihood of future paid gigs greater and the chance of a wasted afternoon being a patsy for the landlord smaller. So a "hey, I'm doing a gig this Sunday at... Come along and check us out" post on here might, as others have said spark some BChatters to come along, say "Hi" and have an informal bass hang. You'll never know if you don't try.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1470236842' post='3104388'] The solution is blindingly obvious, of course. If employed, either ask for (and obtain...) a pay rise, or bid for (and obtain...) a higher-paid job. Those self-employed have only to raise their tarifs by an equivalent amount. Those with fixed income just stop spending (and therefore gain with no effort at all...). What's not to like..? The majority of the British populace are apparently happy enough to accept this modest price for having taken back control again, and have even dodged the 'Blond Bombshell for PM' bullet..! It's all good, surely..? [/quote] Dad, "You are Norman Tebbit, I am carrying a copy of the Daily Express and I claim my £10!"

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1470213516' post='3104064'] Brexit - the excuse for everything. The pound is down a bit against the dollar and euro - it recovered after an initial drop. As it's somewhere round 10% down, that is not the sole reason for a 30% price rise. So it's simply money-grabbing greed while there's a good excuse to be had. [/quote] But no surprise that corps react that way... Costs rise 10%, prices rise 30%... = more profit. Twas ever thus!

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1470180022' post='3103961'] Wal's are fugly. IMO of course. [/quote] I so very nearly added the final line "But then again, post about my personal fave bass and the dissenting comments won't be far behind, just to underline that personal views on looks are, well, personal." to my post when I first put it up.

Yup, one word. Brexit.

I do find it funny that so many folks out there can be so definitive about what constitutes the absolute orthodoxy on an instrument that didn't exist 65 years ago. As others have said, whatever works for you works for you. In my personal experience I stared out predominantly on fingerstyle and 80-90% of my playing is probably like that. However, there have always been some songs that I've played that never sounded right not played with a pick... Matty Groves, Going Underground, You Really Got Me and a few worship songs we've recently started doing at church. Mind you, as well as playing with fingers and pick I'll also throw in some 50/60s style thumb where I want a really plummy, soft, fat tone so what kind of Neanderthal throwback am I in some internet folks' eyes...?

[quote name='pineweasel' timestamp='1470139672' post='3103499'] They used hornbeam for the central core for many years. I read that it was dropped because it was too stiff, curiously! [/quote] Yes, for many years the laminates (outer to inner) were maple, mukulungu, hornbeam. I've heard the story too but it's always had the whiff of urban myth about it. They certainly ditched the carbon fibre stiffeners from the Pro series necks as the necks were more than stiff enough already. [quote name='Manton Customs' timestamp='1470147470' post='3103586'] Yep they did. I heard they could no longer source it though rather than it being too stiff. Either way Hornbeam is great stuff, kind of the native equivalent to Ebony (in hardness not colour!) I've used it for fretboards before and it works great. And yes Shedua [i]is[/i] Ovangkol, just another name for it [/quote] Ah, knew they were both guibourtia but couldn't recall if they were the same sub-species.

In my sig below, one was bought in 1982, one in 1992, one in 1993, one in 2001, one in 2007 (when 2001 needed some refurb and was temporarily retired) and one in 2014 (because 1993 was too delicate to take to acoustic gigs). Only ever owned one other bass, bought in 1989, sold 1998 as surplus and to fund an acoustic guitar. I guess that counts as GES.

Like several others have said, the most important things may be tone and playability but if I don't personally like/love the look of a bass then I won't be buying or playin it.. That's why, however good or perfect they may be for me in terms of sound and playability, I am very unlikely ever to own a Lakland (ugly oval bridge), MM Bongo or modern single cut bass. Shallow perhaps but equally hugely important.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1470161095' post='3103753'] I think it refers to the owner?! [/quote] This. Definitely this...

With the Boss TU or TC Polytune tuners you are paying for a mixture of stability and bomb-proofness. Either is an investment and well worth a few extra pounds. Been using the same TU-2 for 25 years and got a Polytune when they first came out for a second gig bag. Probably prefer the TC marginally but they're both no regrets purchases.